In conventional practice, supermarkets and convenient stores are equipped with display cases, which may be open or provided with doors, for presenting fresh food or beverages to customers, while maintaining the fresh food and beverages in a refrigerated environment. Typically, cold, moisture-bearing air is provided to the product display zone of each display case by passing air over the heat exchange surface of an evaporator coil disposed within the display case in a region separate from the product display zone so that the evaporator is out of customer view. A suitable refrigerant, such as for example R-404A refrigerant, is passed through the heat exchange tubes of the evaporator coil. As the refrigerant evaporates within the evaporator coil, heat is absorbed from the air passing over the evaporator so as to lower the temperature of the air.
A refrigeration system is installed in the supermarket and convenient store to provide refrigerant at the proper condition to the evaporator coils of the display cases within the facility. All refrigeration systems include at least the following components: a compressor, a condenser, at least one evaporator associated with a display case, a thermostatic expansion valve, and appropriate refrigerant lines connecting these devices in a closed circulation circuit. The thermostatic expansion valve is disposed in the refrigerant line upstream with respect to refrigerant flow of the inlet to the evaporator for expanding liquid refrigerant. The expansion valve functions to meter and expand the liquid refrigerant to a desired lower pressure, selected for the particular refrigerant, prior to entering the evaporator. As a result of this expansion, the temperature of the liquid refrigerant also drops significantly. The low pressure, low temperature liquid evaporates as it absorbs heat in passing through the evaporator tubes from the air passing over the surface of the evaporator. Typically, supermarket and grocery store refrigeration systems include multiple evaporators disposed in multiple display cases, an assembly of a plurality of compressors, termed a compressor rack, and one or more condensers.
Additionally, in certain refrigeration systems, an evaporator pressure regulator (EPR) valve is disposed in the refrigerant line at the outlet of the evaporator. The EPR valve functions to maintain the pressure within the evaporator above a predetermined pressure set point for the particular refrigerant being used. In refrigeration systems used to chill water, it is known to set the EPR valve so as to maintain the refrigerant within the evaporator above the freezing point of water. For example, in a water chilling refrigeration system using R-12 as refrigerant, the EPR valve may be set at a pressure set point of 32 psig (pounds per square inch, gage) which equates to a refrigerant temperature of 34 degrees F.
In conventional practice, evaporators in refrigerated food display systems generally operate with refrigerant temperatures below the frost point of water. Thus, frost will form on the evaporators during operation as moisture in the cooling air passing over the evaporator surface comes in contact with the evaporator surface. In medium-temperature refrigeration display cases, such as those commonly used for displaying produce, milk and other dairy products, or beverages in general, the refrigerated product must be maintained at a temperature typically in the range of 32 to 41 degrees F. depending upon the particular refrigerated product. In medium temperature produce display cases for example, conventional practice in the field of commercial refrigeration has been to pass the circulating cooling air over the tubes of an evaporator in which refrigerant passing through the tubes boils at about 21 degrees F. to maintain the cooling air temperature at about 31 or 32 degrees F. In medium temperature dairy product display cases for example, conventional practice in the commercial refrigeration field has been to pass the circulating cooling air over the tubes of an evaporator in which refrigerant passing through the tubes boils at about 21 degrees F. to maintain the cooling air temperature at about 28 or 29 degrees F. At these refrigerant temperatures, the outside surface of the tube wall will be at a temperature below the frost point. As frost builds up on the evaporator surface, the performance of the evaporator deteriorates and the free flow of air through the evaporator becomes restricted and in extreme cases halted.
Fin and tube heat exchanger coils of the type having simple flat fins mounted on refrigerant tubes that are commonly used as evaporators in the commercial refrigeration industry characteristically have a low fin density, typically having from 2 to 4 fins per inch. Customarily, in medium temperature display cases, an evaporator and a plurality of axial flow fans are provided in a forced air arrangement for supplying refrigerated air to the product area of the display case. Most commonly, the fans are disposed upstream with respect to air flow, that is in a forced draft mode, of the evaporator in a compartment beneath the product display area, with there being one fan per four-foot length of merchandiser. That is, in a four-foot long merchandiser, there would typically be one fan, in an eight-foot long merchandiser there would be two fans, and in a twelve-foot long merchandiser there would be three fans. In operation, the fan forces the air through the evaporators, passing over the tubes of the fin and tube exchanger coil, and circulates the refrigerated air through a flow duct on the backside of the merchandiser housing and thence through a flow duct at the top of the merchandiser housing to exit into the product display area. In open-front display case configurations, the refrigerated air exiting the upper flow duct passes generally downwardly across the front of the product display area to form an air curtain separating the product display area from the ambient environment of the store, thereby reducing infiltration of ambient air into the product display area.
As previously noted, it has been conventional practice in the commercial refrigeration industry to use only heat exchangers of low fin density in evaporators for medium temperature applications. This practice arises in anticipation of the buildup of frost of the surface of the evaporator heat exchanger and the desire to extend the period between required defrosting operations. As frost builds up, the effective flow space for air to pass between neighboring fins becomes progressively less and less until, in the extreme, the space is bridged with frost. As a consequence of frost buildup, heat exchanger performance decreases and the flow of adequately refrigerated air to the product display area decreases, thus necessitating activation of the defrost cycle. Additionally, since the pressure drop through a low fin density evaporator coil is relatively low, such a low pressure drop in combination with a relatively wide spacing between fans as mentioned hereinbefore, results in a significant variance in air velocity through the evaporator coil which in turn results in an undesirable variance, over the length of the evaporator coil, in the temperature of the air leaving the coil. Temperature variances of as high as 6° F. over a span as small as eight inches, are not a typical. Such stratification in refrigeration air temperature can potentially have a large effect on product temperature resulting in undesirable variation in product temperature within the product display area.
When frost forms on the evaporator coil, it tends to accumulate in areas where there is low airflow velocity to begin with. As a result, airflow is further maldistributed and temperature distribution becomes more distorted. Air flow distribution through the evaporator is also distorted as a result of the inherent air flow velocity profile produced by a plurality of conventionally spaced axial flow fans. As each fan produces a bell-curve like velocity flow, the air flow velocity profile is characteristically a wave pattern, with air flow velocity peaking near the centerline of each fan and dipping to a minimum between neighboring fans.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,098, Behr, discloses a refrigerated food merchandiser having a modular air cooling and circulating means comprising a plurality of modular evaporator coil sections of a predetermined length, each evaporator coil section having a separate air moving means associated therewith. The evaporator coils are arranged in horizontal, spaced, end-to-end disposition in a compartment beneath the product display area of the merchandiser. A separate pair of axial flow fans is associated with each evaporator section for circulating air from an associated zone of the product display zone through the evaporator coil for cooling, and thence back to the associated zone of the product display area.